


Everybody Wants to Rule the World

by cherryarchangel



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: 80s culture, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Back to the Future References, F/M, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, I can't believe Dimension Travel is not a tag, I'm all for this new tag, I'm going off of teaser trailers, Nancy and Jonathan are friends with Steve, Pop Culture, Pre-Season/Series 03, Steve "The Badass Babysitter" Harrington, Steve’s Adventures in Babysitting, alternate universe - dimension travel, but it's gonna be awkward, no OT3, with Rachael too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2019-11-15 03:13:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18065510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherryarchangel/pseuds/cherryarchangel
Summary: Everyone's imagined what it would be like to live in the world of their favorite book or movie or TV show, but for Rachael, actually waking up in the middle of the forest in Hawkins, Indiana was as jarringly insane as it was completely thrilling.During the end of 1894 follow her adventure in this new town, getting to know the people behind the characters, and figuring out how she ended up in Hawkins in the first place.This is gonna beone wild ride.





	1. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

**Author's Note:**

>  Though this is my first ever published work, I do really like to create stories and draw information from the copious works I've read on this site.  
>  Stranger Things is my favorite show, because it's just the perfect blend of 80s nostalgia and 80s music, so I hope that I'm doing it justice through this story!  
>  I've written out the next few chapters, but I have to proofread them before I upload them. After that though I'm a little lost on where to go with the story. Please feel free to comment if you like the story or have any ideas on where you think it should go!  
>  The title is from Tears For Fears song of the same name.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waking up in the middle of the forest, quickly Rachael decided, was not the worst thing that could have happened. At least she wasn't alone, left to wander until she ended up accidentally killing herself.

 Sometimes there are moments in your life where you have to think back to the times when your life was normal and you just wonder how the hell you got to where you are now. For Rachael, it was lounging at home watching Netflix or reading fanfiction on whatever show, movie, or book she had recently decided was worth consuming. 

 It all changed though, the day or more aptly described, the night, that she woke up in the middle of the woods with a flashlight shining far too bright in her face. _Wait what?_

 "Hey kid, what the hell are you doing here?" the man holding the flashlight grunted out. 

 Rachael looked at her surroundings and noticed the eerie calm that seeped from the woods around her. The inky blackness only penetrated by the slim strip of moon dangling above in the sky. The more she looked around the more unreal the world seemed to appear. Wait, how did she get here? Last thing she remembers she was in her room, scrolling through Tumblr on her phone, laying on her warm, comfy bed. 

 Shaking herself Rachael looked at the man that continued to flash the much to bright light into her face and felt the cool breeze drift past her face, making her shiver. She was still in her pajamas after all. And without any socks on her feet, she could feel the dampness of the fallen leaves under the pads of her toes. 

 At first glance, she noticed that the man wore a tan Police uniform, with a sheriff’s hat. But he looked vaguely familiar, like someone she may have known, but not someone she knew personally. The man seemed to embody the definition of a dad-bod and his semi-hazardously shaved beard only egged her theory on. 

 As she looked closer at his face to try and pinpoint where she knew him from, she realized that he was staring right back at her, still waiting for an answer. 

 "I have no idea." She tried to respond, but her reply came out dry and scratchy which made her come to the immediate realization that her throat was _really_ dry. She reached up to put a hand on her throat to tell the man she was thirsty. 

 The man remained stoic but nodded in understanding and then the light in her face was gone and in its place was a water bottle. Rachael snatched it and twisted the cap off with a satisfying _click_ before readily inhaling its contents. Until she choked and began coughing in an attempt to get the air to go down the right way in her throat. 

 The man thumped her back and soon enough the coughing subsided and looked at the man before her once more attempting to answer her question. 

 "I don’t know, sir. I don’t know what I’m doing here, heck, I don’t even know where I am, besides the obvious, that I’m in the middle of the woods," she finally answered, her voiced catching at the end of the sentence. She thought a moment before continuing, "I also have no clue how I got here, last I remember I was on the phone in my bed." 

 A look of confusion and what Rachael thought was panic crossed the man’s features which just settled into a thoughtful expression. 

 "Sir, I need to get home." The words left her mouth as a second thought, as she didn’t really understand what was happening. _Why was she out in the middle of the woods with forest surrounding her when she didn’t even live near one?_

 His face dropped into an authoritative mask as he stood up, clearly having made a decision. He reached out a hand for her to grab and she did. As she hauled herself up, the Sheriff spoke again. 

 "Sure kid, where do you live? I got my truck back here" He pointed a thumb behind him at the tab vehicle parked on the road she was passed out next to. They began the short walk to the truck while Rachael tried to explain how to get to her house. 

 "You know Van Buren?" 

 "Kid, there isn’t a road in Hawkins called Van Buren." The sheriff stated bluntly, the two had just sat down in the front seat. The name of the town stuck her with the sudden realization that something completely insane was happening. She then turned to get a better look at the sheriff in the lights of the car. 

 His face held a small mustache with a shadow of stubble across his jaw. His eyes were tired blue that were watching her petrified state. 

 She felt my mouth move for her saying what her brain was suddenly concluding. 

 "You’re Chief Hopper." The words came out a harsh whisper that the man, Hopper, shot her a confused glance for. 

 "Yeah kid, I am, so what?" 

 She moved a hand to her forehead and she thought for a moment. Was she really in a car with Jim Hopper from Stranger Things right now? It seemed like such an odd dream surely she would wake up any minute. She pinched her arm, but the only thing that came from that was a twitch of pain. 

 "What year is it?" she hurriedly asked earning a questioning look from Hopper. 

 "It’s 1984 kid, right before New Years actually." She couldn’t believe it, was she in the world of Stranger Things right after the end of Season 2? 

 She tried to think of a way to inform the man beside me that she was from what? An alternate dimension? The future? But all that came out of her mouth was, 

 "Are you telling me the Upside Down is real?" The worlds fell from her lips without a second thought and she didn’t even realize the bombshell she had just dropped until she looked over at Hopper. 

 His whole body froze and he turned to look at her with wide eyes. At that exact moment, Rachael realized that she might not have phrased her question to explain how the hell she knew about the Upside Down, but still, she pushed forward. 

 "Do you have El at your cabin still? Has she been settling well after the adoption? How are all the other kids? And does Steve actually babysit them?" She blushed at the last question. She may have just a small crush on the teen in question. 

 Hopper just squinted his eyes at her and then suddenly his hand turned the keys and the truck started. He drove down the road towards the lights of a town that Rachael knew had to be Hawkins, Indiana. 

\---------- 

 After a long and awkward drive closer to town, Hopper pulled over and hopped out of the truck. Rachael did the same making a guess at where they were going. 

 So there she was, trekking through the dark woods trying not to trip over the shadowed branches and rocks covered with leaves. Hopper suddenly stopped and looked back at her. 

 "Okay, there’s a tripwire up ahead that we’re going to step over and go into my cabin. Then you’re going to tell me everything you know." 

 Rachael could only nod her head as a tried to think of a logical way to explain what the hell was happening and how the hell she had somehow gotten herself into this situation. 

 They cleared the wire and made their way towards the cabin. Hopper gave that special knock that Rachael knew he would and she soon heard a noise come from the other side of the door. 

 Said door opened to reveal Eleven, looking absolutely adorable in the over-sized flannel and overalls. Her hair was a giant mop of curls and her eyes twinkled in question at Rachael’s appearance. Hopper immediately addressed her. 

 "Hey kid, this is..." he trailed off realizing that he never asked me for my name. 

 "Uh, Rachael, my name is Rachael," Rachael answered his unspoken question with only a small amount of hesitation. 

 "This is Rachael, she said she knows about the Upside Down." His tone was slightly menacing but Rachael guessed that it was because he was trying to make her aware of how odd the situation was. 

 They all sat down in the living room staring at each other and waiting for one to start. Soon enough Rachael became annoyed with the staring contest and decided to just get it over with. 

 "The reason I know who you already is because I'm from the future? or possibly an alternate dimension, because where I come from the events of the Upside Down are all told in a TV show that I watch called Stranger Things. I have no idea how I even got here because I'm supposed to be in 2019, not 1984, and as far as I know there aren't any sort of Demogorgon type monsters laying waste in my world. She spoke in a rushed jumble of words that told the mess of her train of thought. Eleven looked at her with curious eyes, giving away her fascination with what Rachael had said while Hopper's eyebrows rose high onto his forehead. Rachael decided to continue and actually explain how much she knew about the events of the last couple of years. Which was basically everything? 

 "At the beginning of the show we see how Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Mike are playing Dungeons and Dragons then everyone leaves and Will makes his way home on his bike. He stops when he sees something in the woods, runs home and goes to the shed for a shotgun, but he’s attacked me the Demogorgon and dragged into the Upside Down. The scene changes to the morning after where Mrs. Byers and Jonathan discover that he’s missing." She stopped to see that Hopper looked like he was actually starting to believe her. Continuing she stated, "It goes to show the Party meeting Eleven when they are out looking for Will and hiding her in Mike’s basement. They learn about the Upside Down, get in constant arguments because they’re kids and look for a way to breach the gap between worlds." Eleven nodded at Hopper in confirmation, "Nancy and Jonathan head off to find the monster after Barbara Holland is taken, Nancy ends up in the Upside Down and Jonathan has to pull her out," she paused, "Then there's Will's funeral, and soon after Jonathan and Nancy wound up at the police station after getting into a fight with Steve Harrington." Rachael turned her gaze towards Hopper, 

 "You knock out a shit-ton of people, nice right-hook by the way, in your pursuit of the truth behind Will’s disappearance, even going so far as to cut open the fake body that the government ‘found’ in the Quarry." 

 She opened her mouth to continue, but Hopper raised his hand to signify for her to stop talking. 

 "Okay Rachael, I believe that you’re telling us the truth about this, as completely insane as the idea sounds, but I’m far too tired to actually absorb any more information even more so to actually figure out what’s happening." He told her, to which she nodded in agreement because even though the whole situation was so incredibly weird she felt the energy draining out of her and wanted to catch a few z’s before the sun came up. 

 He stood up and Eleven followed suit. 

 "You can take the couch, I’ll grab you a blanket and a pillow." 

 As soon as Rachael got the two items they disappeared into their individual rooms leaving her to ponder her situation in solitude. _How did she end up in the world of Stranger Things? Was she going to meet the whole crew? The Party? Steve?_

 What had she gotten herself into? 


	2. Here I Go Again (On My Own)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  After the absurdity the night before, Rachael gets to enjoy a normal morning. Or at least as normal as it can get when you're in Hawkins.
> 
>  Contrary to what most people might assume, Rachael actually likes to do work when there's a beat to dance to and someone to hang with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like this second chapter!

 Rachael woke up the next morning to the smell of fresh toasted Eggos, actual eggs and slightly burnt bacon. Getting up and making her way into the kitchen Rachael spotted Hopper at the stove making breakfast and El bouncing in her chair at the table a short ways away. Instead of taking a seat herself, Rachael awkwardly stood next to the table until Eleven noticed her and smiled brightly. 

 "Rachael!" she beamed in a way that surprised Rachael, because as far as she knew Eleven didn’t really warm up to people very quickly. Hopper must have noticed this too, because he gave Rachael a look that told her ‘I thought this couldn’t get any weirder, but it just did.’ Seemingly having missed the glances between the two, she continued, "Sit with me."

 Rachael moved to take a seat beside her. Deciding that it would be better to actually talk to the younger girl beside her, because she had been so welcoming, Rachael started. 

 "So, El," She started, "or do you prefer to be called Jane?" Eleven just shook her head to indicate that she didn’t really mind either name. With this new information Rachael continued, 

 "How have things been going since you shut the Gate?" The question may have been a bit forward, but so what? Rachael was curious and Eleven didn’t seem to mind her offbeat wording. 

 "Good." She stopped for a moment clearly formulating the response she wanted. 

 "I get to see Mike everyday." With that her face lit up and her youthful face seemed to de-age even further. _Could she be more adorable?_ "And the Party." She added on as an afterthought, which made Rachael realize that she had a question about El's relationship with a certain part of the _Party_. 

 "Do you still not like Max?" Eleven's smile dropped and her face morphed into a scowl at the name. 

 "Mouth breather." Her response elicited a bright laugh out of Rachael and El's face changed once more, but this time into a look of confusion. As the adorable telekinetic slowly blinked at the laughing time traveler, which caused the older girl a laugh again, but quickly attempt to signify that she wasn't laughing at the younger girl herself. 

 "Sorry El," Rachael sent her a soft smile," It's just that Max doesn't like Mike the way you think he does." Eleven cocked her head to the side in question. 

 "Max _doesn't_ like Mike?"

 "Of course not Jane, Mike tried to contact you on his radio everyday for an entire year. He didn't even know if you were alive or not. He's definitely smitten with you and only you." While Eleven's face lifted up somewhat into a smile she still seemed a tad bit confused. 

 "'Smitten?'" Rachael felt her face pulling up into a soft smile. 

 "Smitten is another way of saying that you like someone the way Mike likes you, and how you like him."

 "Smitten," Eleven smiled at Rachael, "Mike's smitten with me." Just as she said that, Hopper dropped breakfast onto the table with an annoyed look on his face, but Rachael thought it was a front for him secretly being happy that Jane had someone to talk to about normal things like boys. 

 Soon enough they were all chowing down on protein, carbs and grease. Though Rachael felt a little awkward, intruding into the family dynamic, she found herself content to just listen to the conversation between the father and daughter. Hopper and El really had formed a close bond and become each other’s family throughout the whole Upside Down ordeal. They passed the syrup around and shared glances that said things only the other could understand. 

 After the trio finished their meal, the chief and the telekinetic stood up and began collecting the dishes. After dropping his in the sink, Hopper told them he was going to call Joyce Byers and ‘Harrington’ and to have them get everyone over to the cabin as soon as possible. Rachael was a little shocked, she knew that she was eventually going to have to meet them, but she didn’t realize it would be so soon. She shook herself and went to help dry the dishes as Eleven finished washing them. They finished the process pretty quickly and El helped Rachael find where to put the clean plates. They worked silently listening to Hop speaking quietly into the phone, it was all quite peaceful. 

 As the last fork was dropped into the drawer Hopper strolled back into the room. Rachael looked about and realized that while the kitchen was clean, the living room that she had slept in was in a bit of disarray. She hadn’t really seen the night, the morning?, before because of the dark, but it was very noticeable in broad daylight. The bookshelves could use a good straightening, there were a fair few boxes hazardously stacked around the place, and hardwood had a thin layer of dust across it, like it hadn’t seen a broom in quite some time. 

 Rachael moved forward, moving to clean the place up a bit, but Hopper stopped her. 

 "What are you doing?" He apparently didn’t see the mess that was present. Rachael lifted her shoulders into a shrug and waved her hand at the mess that was the living room. 

 "I was just gonna spruce up a bit before everyone gets here. You might not have noticed, but it’s looks like no one’s cleaned up in months." When all she received was his apprehensive look she let her shoulders sag, dropped her head back and sighed. 

 "Look Hopper, you gave me a bed and food. I wanted to repay that kindness and help you clean a bit." He looked a tad startled at the statement, clearly not expecting a teenager to be so mature and actually offer to clean up without being prompted, but quickly replies 

 "Uh, sure, there a broom in the corner." Rachael grabbed the bigger of two small brooms that were hidden behind a pile of dust covered boxes before she also noticed the record player in the corner, next to a pile of vinyl records _Huh, this is the same one from the show._

 So Rachael started the search of finding a song from the 70s that she actually knew, which it turns out was quite a few. _Huh._ And when she heard someone behind her clear their through she called back. 

 "Don’t worry Hop, I’ll protect the sanctity of the seventies. Nothing in the 21st century is nearly as good as the age of music we’re currently in." And she continued shuffling through the different songs. 

 Pulling out George Harrison _'My Sweet Lord'_ Rachael popped it in the player and, though it took a few seconds of blankly staring at the device, turned the thing on. As the music flowed out of the speakers she started the mindless task of cleaning the room all the while singing the lyrics to herself. 

 Eleven watched on in fascination as Rachael swept the floor like she was dancing with a partner at the Snowball. 

 "I want to clean with Rachael," she blurts out surprising Hopper. As quiet as she could be, most of the time Eleven had never really liked to clean up the room. He couldn’t believe the introduction at this girl out of time had cause such a drastic change. He was spurred out of this though by Rachael laughing. She beamed at El and handed the other broom to the smaller girl. 

 Pretty soon they made a game out of who could make a bigger pile of dust, completely oblivious to Hopper watching on in amusement as the two galavanted across the room badly dancing and sweeping up dust. He had never seen a teenager turn a chore into something fun, more even seen Eleven want to clean that readily before. 

 While Eleven was finishing sweeping her pile right next to Rachael’s, Rachael went to find a bag to sweep all the dust into. Hopper watched as El swept some of Rachael’s pile into her own while the other girl wasn’t paying attention. Soon enough the older teen returned and let out an exclamation at how her pile had shrunk. 

 While the two girls started a new game of actually getting the dust into the plastic garbage bag, there was a knock on the door. The girls, through all their giggling, didn’t hear and Hopper answered the door to see all three Byers and the Wheeler siblings standing in the morning chill. They all had questioning looks on their faces as he let them in. 

 Hopper opened his mouth to try to begin to explain what was happening when, from the other room, a shout could be heard, 

 "Eleven using telekinesis to move your pile into the bag faster is cheating! But it’s so funny that i’m going to give it to you just this once." The statement was followed by a round of giggles that seemed to confuse the newcomers even more. Even Mike, who had been preparing to sprint off to find Eleven was struck still at the confusion as to what was happening. 

 Hopper sighed, this was going to be long day. 

 He gave the group of survivors a tired look then turned to show everyone to the two girls sweeping in the room behind him. As he stepped into the new room with the others on his heels he saw Jane’s still beaming face and slightly bleeding nose and Rachael’s dirty pajama shirt. He should really get to getting her a change of clothes. Rachael still had her broom in her hand and Eleven held up the half full plastic bag waiting for the rest of Rachael’s pile to be swept into it. Rachael was continuing to say how Eleven should let her finish sweeping because she really ‘couldn’t take advantage of El’s powers like that’ and Hopper felt his heart warm a little at that statement. 

 Hopper coughed to get the two’s attention and they both turned their gazes to him. While Rachael sent him a questioning gaze, Eleven almost immediately noticed Mike and bounded across the room to give him the cutest bone-crushing hug Rachael had ever seen. Rachael felt her face fall in disbelief as she scanned the faces of everyone else that had entered the room. Everyone else just looked surprised at the sight of this completely random person that got along so well with Eleven. 


	3. You Make My Dreams (Come True)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   _Shit!_ It was probably a bad idea to become friends with any one of these kids, seeing as she's probably not going to be staying in this universe long.
> 
>  But then El beams at her and Will scoots closer to her to get a better look and even Mike looks a little impressed and Rachael decides _screw it_ , these kids deserved a little wonder in their life after all the shit they've had to deal with and if Rachael could give it to them for even a second through something that isn't helpful to beating up a monster, she's gonna do it. And anyways she's read enough fanfiction to know that keeping away would never work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  Here's Chapter 3! It took awhile to actually be able to sit down and finish it off.  
>  Rachael's gonna meet half the cast the cast in this chapter and then the rest in the next chapter. If you think I could have more interactions between some of the characters let me know.  
>  Also, this is the shortest chapter so far but I managed to get in some character bonding?  
>  Enjoy!

 Rachael was the first person to take action and walk right up to Hopper before nodding at him and turning to everyone else in the room. 

 "Hi my name’s Rachael, I can see that you’re all really confused about who I am or why I'm here, but seeing as half of the Party isn’t here and we’re also missing a teenager, you’ll have to wait." Rachael couldn't believe just how completely insane her life has become. Seriously. Here were the people who had only been characters on a scene before and now they were standing in front of her, in flesh and blood. 

 The boldness of the teenager in front of them surprised everyone, except for Hopper who had experienced the girl’s eccentric-ness first-hand several times in the last 12 hours. He tried to keep his face stoic as he saw that everyone else was wondering how she knew who wasn’t here even though they had never even seen her before. Before they could ask Rachael walked up to Joyce. 

 Rachael stuck out her hand,"Hi, I’m Rachael, it’s nice to meet you in person Mrs. Byers." Joyce shoot her hand and shot a look at Hopper, this girl seemed to be extremely independent. 

 While the only two adults broke off to actually have a conversation about what the hell was happening, Rachael felt her sudden wave of courage wash away. Knowing that between the teenage couple and the quiet boy, that Will Byers was much more approachable, Rachael introduced herself to him. 

 "Hi, I'm Rachael." she said sticking her hand out to him. Will shook her hand and gave her a nervous smile that she returned with a bright grin. He uttered a quiet, "I’m Will" before he was pulled into a hug by El. 

 Rachael turned to the couple standing awkwardly beside her and they all looked at each other for a moment. Rachael then reached out her hand for them to shake. They all stared at one another in somewhat tense silence before Rachael decided to speak. 

 "Uh, hi...guys," she started, feeling rather awkward in front of the pair of all to familiar faces, "I’m Rachael, it’s nice to meet you." Her words hung stiffly in the air, along with her hand, which was still outstretched toward the couple. Rachael was just about ready to drop her hand and apologize for inconveniencing them, but luckily Nancy moved forward. 

 "Nancy." Said girl replied uneasily taking the drooping hand. "And this is Jonathan." Nancy appeared slightly defiant, perhaps, Rachael thought, she was apprehensive at the sight of a new person intruding upon her found family. Jonathan was less intense looking, though his face was still stoic, and shook Rachael’s hand. Suddenly Rachael remembered, _oh yeahshe wasn't actually that good at talking to people her age._ Because yeah Rachael could apparently only talk to people older or younger then her, but not the people that she was supposed to get along with easier. 

 Just another weird thing about her, she supposes.

 They continued to stand in silence for a few more moments while Rachael searched for something to talk about. Maybe how they're okay? _That's stupid Rachael, they went through hell, TWICE. Of course they're not doing fine._ At this point Rachael wanted to escape to the sanctity of people she already knew and she breathed a sigh of relief when Hopper called the pair over. 

 As Nancy and Jonathan made their way over to Hopper and Joyce, Rachael found herself alone with three just barely teenagers. Though, Mike and Eleven were whispering to each other on the couch, making up for lost time and Will was doodling on paper surrounded by pencils and crayons he had brought with him. 

 Deciding that drawing was better than becoming the third wheel to people years younger than her, Rachael sat down next to Will. She glanced at what he was sketching, a roaring dragon surrounded by an army of knights and found herself gasping at the detail in it. Will startled at her gasp and blushed when he realized she was looking at his drawing. 

 "Holy shit Will, you’re really good at drawing!" At this, his blush deepened and he mumbled a thank you, about to go back to the drawing before Rachael continued, "I never drew this well at your age, dude, you must have had a _ton_ of practice!" Will perked up, this girl liked to draw? 

 At his questioning look Rachael nodded, 

 "Oh yeah, I love to draw, or paint, or really do art in any medium. I even want to go to college for it, movies need tons of people good at art to work on them!"

 Will’s gaze turned admiring and he offered her a sheet of paper and a spare pencil which she readily accepted. So there they sat doodling together with they soft mummers of speech from the different groups of people about the place. 

 Rachael finished the sketch of Will she had decided to make and Will finished coloring the, extremely realistic, fire his dragon was breathing out at the small army of knights. The two had set down their drawing utensils when they noticed Mike and Eleven had stopped there conversation to watch Rachael map out the contours of Will’s face. It was an accurate drawing, enough so that anyone that looked could tell who it was a drawing off. 

 "Pretty" Eleven said as Rachael looked over at her. Rachael smiled and nodded in agreement. 

 "Yeah El, Will is very pretty." Said boy’s face went bright red as he looked up at Rachael then at her drawing of him to which his eyes widened. 

 "Rachael, that’s amazing." It was now Rachael’s turn to blush. 

 "Thank you."

 Mike had seemed to finally realize that there was someone he didn't know in the cabin. He seemed startled as he looked at Rachael and then his cheeks turned pink. 

 "Oh, uh, I'm Mike," He nodded, his hair flopping. His face stretched into a genuine smile that must exist only when he was in Eleven's presence. She had always felt sorry for the way Mike had suffered because of the mess of El disappearing. She felt bad that the two had to suffer a year apart after the entire ordeal bonded them in the most incredible way. She felt sorry they ever had to deal with the Upside Down in the first place. Shaking off the impending sorrow she responded, 

 "I'm Rachael." She let her gaze wonder back to El who was starstruck at the drawing of Will. 

 "How did you do that?" She flung out her hand to grab the sketch, her face astonished. 

 Rachael couldn't help but giggle at the younger girl's face. If she didn't know for a fact that Eleven could throw her across the room without much thought, Rachael would have thought she was the most innocent little munchkin in the world. She felt the soft smile pull at her features and the warm affection for El settle in her chest. 

  _Shit!_ It was probably a bad idea to become friends with any one of these kids, seeing as she's probably not going to be staying in this universe long. 

 But then El beams at her and Will scoots closer to her to get a better look and even Mike looks a little impressed and Rachael decides _screw it,_ these kids deserved a little wonder in their life after all the shit they've had to deal with and if Rachael could give it to them for even a second through something that isn't helpful to beating up a monster, she's gonna do it. And anyways she's read enough fanfiction to know that keeping away would never work. 

 The four of them fell into a conversation where the three teens explained to Eleven how drawing works. Rachael even drew a quick sketch of El showing how to use guidelines and points of reference on the face to make it as exact as possible. 

 The group of kids were so immersed in their conversation that, once again, they didn’t notice when there was another knock on the door and Hopper was, once again, the one to answer it. But this time there was a begrudging redhead with a blushing short-afrod boy holding her hand, a curly haired boy who was all smiles, and a tired looking teen with flawless hair on the other side. 

 They were all welcomed in when another gasp was heard from inside. 

 "Rachael dear, this drawing of Will is incredible!" came Joyce’s voice much to the surprise of the newcomers. Hopper showed everyone else into the living room to see that after he had left, everyone had gathered around the couch to look at the drawings that Will and Rachael had made. 


	4. You Can't Hurry Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  Rachael finally meets the rest of Team "Monster Hunter," and obviously the first thing she's ever going to say to them has to be really fucking embarrassing, but hey what can you do?
> 
>  Sometimes the best thing to do is make yourself appear as nerdy as humanly possible to those losers, so you can receive praise from a group of teenagers that had probably never had someone look up to them as much as Rachael does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  Been a couple of weeks since the last chapter, sorry 'bout that, but here's the chapter you've all been waiting for. Steve's finally here!
> 
>  Hope it's not too short, I felt that what I ended on was a good cutoff point

 When Steve woke up that morning to a call from Hopper about how he had to haul all the Party over to his cabin as soon as possible, he was expecting to find another ripped apart house with yet another Demogorgon-esque monster to beat the shit out of. What he wasn’t expecting was to be greeted with an abnormally clean cabin, for Hopper that is, and the blushing face of the strangest girl he had ever seen.

 She wore a ratty old t-shirt that had a comic cover on it for Spider-Man and a pair of well-worn pajama pants. Her rosy, heart-shaped face was stretched into a smile that the took over her whole face. And even though her face didn’t hold the pain of the past that the rest of the room held on their shoulders, she still seemed to carry the weight of the world on hers.

He shot Hopper a questioning look before he made his way over with Max, Lucas, and Dustin to take a look at this ‘incredible’ drawing and maybe figure out what the hell was going on.

 Steve had to admit the drawing was quite remarkable. It was obviously a quick sketch, he recognized the guidelines from the time he had art class for a week Freshmen year, but it was obvious that this girl had talent. Will’s hunched form looked down at a sheet of paper that Steve assumed was supposed to hold the picture of dragons and knights that was set nearby. There was a sort of emotion that seemed to be held in the depth of the boy’s eyes, contentment to be drawing perhaps. After all the chaos of the last year, Steve couldn’t blame him.

 The girl, who had yet to notice Steve and the other three kids that had entered, spoke with a steady voice that was tinged with pride at having her drawing recognized. Her sea green eyes held a twinkle that made something in his gut clench and her dirty blonde hair was ruffled from sleep, but she still had a glow to her, and excitement for life that Steve realized he hadn’t felt since he first picked up that nail-ridden bat.

 “Thank you Mrs. Byers, you can have it if you want.” She picked up the paper and offered it to the women, who grasped it with one of the largest smiles that Steve had seen from her over the last month.

 “Thank you, Rachael,” Joyce spoke in an earnest voice, brimming with motherly affection.

 Her name was Rachael, and what a pretty name it was. Steve could tell already that even though there wasn’t any sort of monster (that was immediately present), this was going to be a weird start to another wacky adventure.

\---------- 

 Rachael handed over her sketch of Will feeling a little prideful that she could make the troubled mother smile after all that she had been through. She offered another smile to the women and was about to go back and draw the picture of El that she had asked for when another voice spoke up.

 “Who the hell is this? And why are all of you speaking like you’ve known her forever?” startled she look behind her to notice Dustin been the one to exclaim that and the rest of the group had arrived, including one Steve Harrington.

 For a moment, Rachael let her eyes wander over the teenager, mostly looking at how voluminous hair was, even for it being the 80s, yet he still rocked it. She caught his eyes for a moment, admiring the depth she found in them before, offering up a smile, to which he returned.

 “You’ve got to be the first person I’ve met that can pull off a mullet.” was the first thing she said to the group, and then mentally berated herself for not thinking before speaking, again. When all she got were blank looks from the group around her she tried to explain herself.

 "You know, his hair,” she motioned to the fluff that perched atop Steve’s surprised head, “It’s a mullet.” When they still looked confused she continued. “You know, ‘business in the front party in the back?’ It’s a popular hairstyle from the eighties.”

 There was an awkward silence as each person processed what she had said.

 Fortunately, Steve let out a chuckle at the ridiculousness of what she had said and Rachael let out a breath. Maybe she should start thinking before speaking.

 She stood up so she could address the new group of people that she knew but didn’t really know. She turned to Dustin, who was looking at her with a vaguely amused expression that still held mainly confusion.

 She held out her hand to Dustin, who tentatively took it and was startled when she gave him a firm shake and said,

 “My name’s Rachael and I’m from an alternate dimension.” Dustin’s eyes widened astronomically and his jaw dropped to the floor at these words. His hand tightened on hers and he looked at her with a new admiration in his eyes.

 Though Rachael was going for a joke because she knew Dustin’s reaction would be hilarious, she didn’t realize that everyone else in the room, save Hopper and Eleven, would also drop their jaws at the information.

 Rachael looked at Hopper for some form of help but upon seeing the twinkle of amusement in his eyes despite the careful mask of indifference on his face, realized that he was going to let her fumble her way out of the mess she had created yet again. Yup, she should definitely start thinking before speaking.

 “Are you serious? You’re actually from another dimension? How can we trust you?” Unsurprisingly it was Lucas who spoke first about the sudden reveal. Rachael smiled at him, ever the skeptic. She decided that it was a good a time as any to mess around with them. She cast an impish grin at Hopper who rolled his eyes, knowing just what she was going to do.

 “I know, Lucas, because how else would I be able to tell you that you kissed Max at the Snowball during the song ‘Time after Time’?” Lucas’ jaw dropped and Rachael grinned at the sight and winked at a flustered Max.

 “It’s so nice to meet everyone. Now that you’re all here I guess I’m going to tell you why in the world I’m making accusations about being from another dimension.” Rachael stated as she made her way to stand next to Chief Hopper. He shot her a glare that held no real heat behind it when he saw that she was looking at him to start.

 “Kid, you are really pissing me off, you now that?” Hopper asked Rachael who shot him a smile. He sighed and began his tale.

 “Last night when I was driving home late from a call, I found Rachael passed out on the side of the road and pulled over to wake her up and get her home.” Rachael sent him a glare at the words ‘passed out’ but silently let him continue.

 "She went to tell me where she lived but upon learning that she was in Hawkins she froze up and then looked at me and said ‘Are you telling me the Upside Down is real?’ which I got to say was some freaky shit, then I took her back here and she explained that she was actually from the 21st century.”

 “Wouldn’t that make her a time traveler?” Dustin cut in to which Rachael knew her face had lit up and she exclaimed

 “Great Scott!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  Fun Fact: The term "Mullet" wasn't coined until it was used in the Beastie Boys 1994 song "Mullet Head."
> 
>  The chapter title comes from Phil Collin's rendition of the song, which I have resolutely fallen in love with the last few weeks.

**Author's Note:**

>  Fun Fact: Did you know that the cover are for Stranger Things is an imitation of the movie covers from the 80s such as "Back to the Future," "Adventures in Babysitting," "Indiana Jones," "Escape from New York," "Star Wars," and so many more?  
>  There's so many iconic movie covers that all came from one man, Drew Struzan, a man who created works of art that the movies themselves had to live up to.


End file.
